Monday, March 10, 2014

THE PAWNSHOP (1916)


The Pawnshop (1915) Starring Charlie Chaplin

Origin
One of the many great things that came about during the late 1800's and early 1900's was the invention of film. The innovative Lumiere brothers in France, Louis and Auguste (often called "the founding fathers of modern film"), who worked in a Lyons factory that manufactured photographic equipment and supplies, were inspired by Edison's work.(http://www.filmsite.org/) They created their own combo movie camera and projector - a more portable, hand-held and lightweight device that could be cranked by hand and could project movie images to several spectators. It was called the Cinematographe and was the standard until the the 1920's when 'talkies' we invented. 

Soon the film industry began to grow and big name companies such as Warner Bros. Pictures and Universal Studios were just getting started. Motion pictures were starting to be produced and movie palaces, modern day movie theaters were being build everywhere. Many stars and directors were making names for themselves, but the first truly great film star was British vaudevillian actor Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin began working as an apprentice for a director named Sennett in 1913, playing small parts in comedy features. In 1914 he debuted his tramp character and became an instant hit.(http://www.filmsite.org/)  A few years later he left Sennett and began working for the Mutual Film Corporation making short films such as The Pawnshop.

Purpose
Charlie Chaplin brought a new, fresh, feel to film. His hilarious characters and acting drew the attention of people of all ages. One of the most special things about him was how relatable he was to middle class people because during the time only upper class people went to the movies. Chaplin has many short films, but The Pawnshop is one of his most popular works. Chaplin was definetly the most popular person of his time, bringing laughter and relief to families during World War 1, the Great Depression and Hitler. The Pawnshop was created as just another of Chaplin's short films. There was no reason for it happening or being created other than to entertain. Below is a video of The Pawnshop, enjoy :)
Value
This peice of film from Chaplin is a good expression of the time period because it is a classic work that really shows the beginning of film production. As you can see, the film, like all films of that period, was black and white. At the time, there were no color films. You may also have noticed that there is no dialogue. This is because films with speech called talkies hadn't been intruduced yet. The film is good example of the advancements of film and where it was heading during the time.

Limitations
Limitations of this film are that it doesnt show great cinematic aspects of the time that could be achieved. The film is kind of cartoonish and sketchy, while other popular films of the time, such as Birth of a Nation, better represented the directory of films. The film also can't tell use what other people were saying around this time either. This film was very usual and up the alley of Chaplin. He wrote many more short film comedies just like The Pawnshop. People were very used to, and expected things like this from Chaplin. Films like this took their minds away from bigger peoblems happening in the country. There are also no missing perspectives that the film could've missed. It was very light and funny, without intentions to make people choose sides.






4 comments:

  1. I learned a lot of things from this post. It was really informative and fun to read! Great job. -Aseel Omar

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  2. HI....... This goes into depth details and I thinks its very good.

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  3. I like the detail you put into it

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  4. This blog is really informative but i would work on fixing the text issues

    ReplyDelete